Trust

"[Grace] falls over the waterfall of the present into a reservoir called past grace, and, therefore, past grace reservoir is getting bigger every minute, which means you've got more to thank God for every minute of your life than you did before. The right response to past grace is thankfulness, and the right response to future grace is faith... (paraphrase) To trust in past grace means to draw from it confidence in future grace." - John Piper, sermon at BBC

Pastor John gave a very fitting sermon yesterday in view of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. He preached on living by faith in future grace. It realigned my perspective on trusting God. More than any other year, this year has probably been the greatest lesson in trusting God I've ever received. From enduring a nerve-racking graduate school application season, to finishing my degree at GCTS, to moving halfway across the country, to starting a grueling doctoral program, I have never had more opportunities squeezed into a single year to learn a little more about trust.

It dawned on me yesterday after hearing the sermon that when I pray for more trust in God, I'm really praying for more experiences like I had this year, because my trust in God grows by recalling past evidences of his grace. It fuels my trust in him for future grace.

The psalms are replete with examples. Here is a small sampling:

Psalm 77 - "I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds."

Psalm 9 - "I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds."

Psalm 63 - "My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy."

Psalm 66 - "Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man..."

Psalm 103 - "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."

Psalm 106 - "Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord, or declare all his praise?"

Psalm 107 - "Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man... Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord."

You can't go far into the book of Psalms without coming across a recounting of God's deeds in the past.   Pastor John made a point that trusting in God's promises takes a lifetime to learn, so we have to make it a habit. David was definitely someone who had the habit of reviewing what God had done in the past, and to allow the resulting gratefulness fuel his trust in God for the future.

What better time to start building this habit, if we aren't already doing so, than this week as we all get a bit of extra time off to ponder what God has done.